Straining vat



June 19, 1962 E. sANDMANN STRININGy VAT 5 Sheeis-Sheet 1 Filed June 8.1959 INVENTOR.

EMIL SANDMANN June 19, 1962 E. sANDMANN 3,039,611

STRAININGLVAT Filed June 8, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENToR.

EPHL SANDY/ANN Qwymm/cr ATTORNE-VS June 19, 1962 Filed June 8, 1959 E.ISANDMANN sTRAININGfvAT 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. .YEIVNL SANDVIANNATToRNEs" 3,639,5il Patented .Furie I9, 1962 3,039,611 S'IRAINING VATEmil Sandmann, Ludwigsburg, Wurttemberg, Germany,

The present invention relates to improvements in straining or clarifyingviats, also called mash or lauter tuns.

Since prior to this invention the strainer forming a false bottom inlany straining vat was mounted therein in such a manner that it was verydifficult to clean the area between this strainer and the actual bottomof the vat, it is an object of the present invention to provide astraining vat which is designed so as to permit this bottom area to beeasily cleaned without requiring the strainer to be removed from thevat.

The essential features of the invention for attaining this objectconsist in `designing the vat so that its bottom is composed of aplurality of bottom sections, each having vertical side walls so as toform `a shallow pan, that each bottom section is provided with its owndrain outlet, and that the surface of the bottom of each section isdownwardly inclined toward the drain outlet. It has been found that,with a vat construction of this type, the individual pan-shaped bottomsections may be cleaned very easily and completely underneath thestrainer by means of jets of water sprayed into these sections. Afurther advantage attained by making the vat bottom of a plurality ofsections with interconnected vertical side walls consists in the factthat the stability of the entire bottom will thereby be considerablyincreased so that such bottom will be self-supporting and solidify theentire vat structure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a straining vat in whichthe bottom thereof may be cleaned automatically. For this purpose, theinvention further provides at least one nozzle at the end of each bottomsection opposite to and at a higher level than the drain opening of suchsection for injecting a stream of 'water into each section. Thesenozzles are preferably made in the form of one or more elongated slotsextending along at least one side of each bottom section and closelyadjacent to the bottom surface thereof. These nozzles are preferably sodirected that if a jet of water is injected into each off these bottomsections, it runs directly along the bottom of each section and therebyflushes all impurities toward and into the drain opening. The mostadvantageous cleaning results will be attained if each bottom section,as seen ina plan View, is made of a substantially acute triangular shapeand the drain opening is provided closely adjacent to the apeX of thesmallest angle of the triangle.

These triangular pan-shaped bottom sections may be easily assembled toform the bottoms of rectangular or cylindrical vats. For forming a vatbottom of a rectangular sha-pe, the bottom sections may be arranged inpairs so that the two sections of each pair extend in oppositedirections and the bottom surfaces thereof also incline in oppositedirections toward their respective drain openings, each of which is thenlocated adjacent to the nozzle of the adjacent bottom section. The waterpipes for supplying the cleaning water to the nozzles may then extendalong the side walls of the vat. Centrally of such a vat along thelongitudinal axis thereof, all of the bottom sections may be disposed atthe same level and rest upon a common supporting member which extendsalong such longitudinal axis. Since the individual bottom sectionsthemselves `as well as the entire vat bottom composed thereof arereinforced by the interconnected side walls of the various sections, andthe entire vat bottom is selfsupporting and also supports the upperwalls of the vat, this supporting member may be designed to carry theweight of the entire vat.

If the vat is made of a circular cross section, the individualpan-shaped bottom sections may be of an isosceles triangular shape andarranged adjacent to each other so as to point toward the vertical axisof the vat, and the bottom surfaces of all the sections may be equallyinclined toward such axis so that the drain opening of each bottomsection may then be disposed adjacent to the center of the entire vatbottom.

These and other objects, features, and advantages of 'the presentinvention will become further apparent from the following detaileddescription thereof, particularly when read 4with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- FIGURE 1 shows a plan View of one ofthe bottom sections of a straining vat according to the invention with astrainer, only shown in part, resting on such bottom section;

FIGURE 2 shows a cross section taken along line II- II of FIGURE l, butwith the entire strainer resting on the bottom section;

FIGURE 3 shows an enlarged view of the left end portion of FIGURE 2 `andit also illustrates the manner of securing the bottom section to theside Wall of the vat;

FIGURE 4 shows a plan view of a part of a bottom of a rectangularstraining vat, composed of a plurality of bottom sections according toFIGURES 1 to 3;

FIGURE 5 shows a diagrammatically simplified crosssection taken betweentwo adjacent bottom sections according to FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 shows a cross section taken along line VI- VI of FIGURE 5 andillustrates the connection between two adjacent bottom sections;

FIGURE 7 shows a plan view of a part of 4a substantially circular vatbottom according to the invention;

FIGURE 8 shows a plan view similar to FIGURE 1 of a modication of abottom section of a rectangular vat;

FIGURE 9 shows `a cross section taken along line IX- IX of FIGURE 8;while FIGURE 10 shows a plan view of a vat bottom which is composed of aplurality of bottom sections according to FIGURES 8 and 9.

Referring to the drawings, andflrst particularly to FIGURES l to 6, eachof the sections 1 of the bottom of a rectangular vat, as seen in a planview according to FIGURE l, has a trapezoidal shape in which one side Y2 of the trapezoid is so short thatthe entire bottom section 1 mayberegarded as being practically triangular. The four later edges of eachtrapezoidal section 1 are extended upwardly so as to form side walls 3,4, 5, and 6. 'Ihus each bottom section forms a shallow pan. The

, two non-parallel side walls 4 and 6 also form the main supports of astrainer 7 which forms a false bottom in the Vat and is inserted thereinfrom the open upper end. Additional supporting members 8 for strainer 7may be secured at Various points on the upper surface of the bottom wall10 of each section 1.

As illustrated in FIGURE 2, this bottom wall lt is downwardly inclinedfrom the wider outer edge carrying the side wall toward the oppositenarrow edge carrying side wall 3, and a drain pipe 11 is provided at thelowest point, that is, immediately adjacent to side wall 3. At theopposite corner formed between the highest part of bottom wall lo ands-ide wall as shown particularly in FIGURE 3, a nozzle i2 is provided,the upper wall 13 of which yalso forms a support for the strainer 7.'Ihe orifice of nozzle l2 is formed between the lower end of thedepending wall I3" extending parallel to side wall 5 and the uppersurface of bottom wall ld. Thus, the orifice of nozzle 12 visslot-shaped and extends directly along the bottom wall 10. The inside 12of nozzle 12 communicates through apertures 14 with a water inlet pipe15 of a slightly more than semicircular shape, the edge portions 15 and1S of which are welded to bottom wall 161 and side wall S, respectively.Each water pipe 15 is provided with an inlet lo which may be connectedto a water supply line, not shown.

Side walls 3 and 5 have a greater height than side walls 4 and 6 andtherefore also extend above the strainer 7. Their upper parts serve asconnecting means for securing the respective bottom section to the lowerends of the side walls i7 of the vat, for example, by means of rivets17.

For assembling a plurality of bottom sections l to form a rectangularvat bottom, as illustrated in FIGURE 4, these sections are yarranged inpairs in which the bottom walls of the two sections of each pair slopein opposite directions to each other, as shown in FIGURE 5, and one sidewall 4 of one section abuts against one .side wall 4- ot the adjacentsection and one side wall 6 of one section abuts against one side wall 6of the next section. The abutting walls 4 or 6 are secured to eachother, for example, by rivets 18, as illustrated in FIGURE 6, or in anyother suitable manner, for example, by spot welding, welding, or thelike. The water inlets 16 of nozzles 12 of the complete vat bottom thusassembled are then connected to water pipes 19 extending along the sidewalls 3 and 5 of the individual bottom sections ll.

In the embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in FIGURES 1 to 5, asingle strainer 7 extends across all of the bottom sections l. Sidewalls 4 and 6 of each bottom section may, however, also be of the sameheight as side walls 3 and 5, in which case a separate strainer 7 may beprovided for each bottom section and be set into the latter so Ias torest only on the supporting members S 'and 13.

As illustrated in FIGURE 5, all of the bottom sections 1 of the Vatbottom have a central point 2d within the same horizontal plane. At thestraight line thus formed, all ot the bottom sections I may be supportedby a single longitudinal girder or the like, no-t shown. Since theindividual bottom sections I are provided with vertical side walls 3l,4, 5, and :6 and are secured to each other by side ywalls 4 ando, thevat bottom is self-supporting and also supports the upper walls v17 ofthe vat, the longitudinal girder supporting the individual bottomsections at the central line 20 may be designed so as to carry theentire weight of the vat.

The operation of cleaning the bottom area between the bottom surface l@and strainer 7 is extremely simple. It

sides 3 and 5, such shape need not be adhered to and the individualbottom sections may also be of any other trapezoidal or triangularshape.

In the modification of the invention as illustrated in FIGURE 7, theindividual pan-shaped bottom sections ZI form isosceles trapezoids, andwhen assembled and secured to each other, they form a substantiallycircular bottom of a cylindrical vat. However, these same bottomsections 251 may also be assembled in a manner similarly as shown inFIGURE 4 to form a rectangular vat bottom. They are also secured to eachother in the same manner as the bottom sections -according to FIGURES lto 6.

FIGURES 8 to l0 illustrate a further modiiication of the invention inwhich the individual sections 31 of the vat bottom are of a rectangularshape. The bottom wall 32, of each section 31 is downwardly inclinedtoward its center where it merges into the opening of a drain pipe lil.These bottom sections may also be secured to each other in the samemanner as shown in FIGURE 4. However, in order to permit the respectiveside walls of the adjacent bottom sections 31 to be secured directly toeach other, it is necessary to secure the water inlet pipes 33 only tothe bottom Wall 32 so as not to project laterally beyond the side walls'341.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with referenceto the preferred embodiments thereof, I wish to have it understood thatit is in no way limited `to the details of such embodiments, but iscapable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim is:

1. A straining vat comprising 'a bottom part, a Wall part having a lowerend portion, a strainer, a plurality of adjacent bottom sections formingsaid bottom part, each of said bottom sections having side Walls and `abottom wall forming an individu-al shallow pan, each said bottom wallhaving a `drain opening therein, the upper surface of said bottom wallof each of said sections inclining downwardly toward said drain opening,one of said side walls of each of said adjacent bottom sections beingconnected to said lower end portion, others of said side Walls of saidadjacent bottom sections being in abutting relationship, means forsecuring said others of said side walls to each other, and supportingmeans disposed in some of said bottom sections for supporting saidstrainer in spaced relation above said bottom part, at least one nozzleon each bottom section adjacent to at least one side wall thereof andspaced from and disposed at a higher level than said drain opening fordirection a stream of water along said inclined upper surface towardsaid drain opening, and means for supplying a current of water to saidnozzle, the orifice of said nozzle being slot-shaped and extending in adirection substantially parallel to at least one said side wall of saidbottom section and parallel and immediately adjacent to said inclinedupper surf-ace, said nozzle comprising an elongated member having twolongitudinal edges, said is for this purpose only necessary to pass anadequate supply of Water through the water pipes I9, 16, and 1S into theinside 12 of nozzles 1.2 so that a wide stream of water will then beejected Yfrom nozzles l2 across the ent-ire Width and along the entirelength of the bottom of each section l toward the opening of drain pipe11. The

sediments falling through strainer 7 upon the bottom 70 of each section1 will thus be ilushed off the latter very quickly, leaving the entirevat bottom clean.

Although the pan-shaped bottom sections 1 as shown in FIGURES 1 and 4are of a trapezoidal shape in which one side 4 of 'the trapezoid extendsat right angles to the elongated member being secured at one of saidlongitudinal edges to the inside of at least one said side wall of saidbottom section and projecting downwardly so that the other of saidlongitudinal edges extends at a level closely above said upper surfaceof the bottom wall ot said section, near substantially the highest levelof said upper surface so as to form an elongated slot between said otherof said longitudinal edges of said memlber and said upper surface.

2. A straining vat as dened in claim 1, wherein said elongated nozzlemember together with the corner formed between said side wall and saidupper surface enclose a chamber, a pipe having a longitudinally disposedopening therein, said pipe being secured along the longitudinal edges ofsaid opening to the outside of said bottom section adjacent to saidchamber, said bottom section further having -a plurality of apertures inat least one of its said walls `chamber and for distributing the waterto all points of said chamber.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS WarrenDec. 22, 1885 Browne Nov. 2, 1909 6 Schmalzried Apr. 22, 1913 Sweetlandet al Feb. 11, 1930 Woodruff Dec. 13, 1938 Morse Dec. 9, 1941 Flock Apr.27, 1943 Ham etal. Dec. 19, 1950 Holland Sept. 7, 1954 Dustan Mar. 6,1956

